Suturing of incisions in humans, animals and cadavers is often performed by hand. However, hand suturing is time consuming, can result in uneven stitches and can spread disease if the person performing the suturing is pricked with the suturing needle. Drawbacks, such as these, to hand suturing have led to the development of motorized suturing devices, such as those described in the following U.S. patents:
Alcamo U.S. Pat. No. 2,988,028;
Arbuckle U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,608; and
Bess et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,982.
A primary problem with prior art motorized suturing devices is that they are mechanically complex and require a large number of rather intricate components. The mechanical complexity of these units increases the likelihood of a malfunction and tends to increase the cost of production.